On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Texas abortion law prohibiting abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy will remain standing. However, the justices ruled that abortion providers have the legal right to challenge the law in federal court.
The court allowed the suit to continue on an 8-1 decision, but it did not stop the law’s enforcement, The Texas Tribune reported.
Instead, abortion providers will continue to try and block the law as it moves through lower court proceedings.
In a separate decision, the court did dismiss a particular challenge that came from the Biden administration.
Abortion providers did have some wins in the case. Justices also allowed them to sue some state licensing officials but excluded state court clerks, which could make it difficult for providers to get the law’s enforcement blocked overall in court.
However, the win may be short-lived as the Supreme Court looks into a case out of Mississippi that could end constitutional protections on abortions.
The court is set to rule on that case next summer.
The high court made its ruling in the Texas case five weeks after justices listened to oral arguments over the law last month.
”The legal back and forth has been excruciating for our patients and heartbreaking for our staff. We know this decision isn’t the end and our fight against this law is not over,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, president, and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance said in a statement. “Whole Woman’s Health is here for the long haul and we look forward to resuming the full scope of abortion care we are trained to provide.”
The ruling comes a day after a state district judge sided with several abortion advocates and ruled that the Texas law violates the state’s Constitution. However, he didn’t stop it from being enforced.
The Supreme Court also heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is a lawsuit that came after Mississippi passed a law that banned most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The Supreme Court currently has a conservative supermajority, including six out of nine justices that Republican presidents appointed. Those conservative members have voiced their opinions and share the same feelings on their anti-abortion positions. During the portion of the oral arguments in the Mississippi case, they seemed open to at least partly overturning Roe v. Wade. The 1973 case was a landmark case that helped establish constitutional protections for abortions.
If they’re successful, it would mean the end of legal abortions in Texas.
The Supreme Court also ruled on a separate matter filed against Texas’ abortion law. The U.S. Justice Department brought it forward, and the high court found that the agency does not have the legal grounds to sue the state over its abortion law. The court ended the lawsuit and the Biden administration’s position in the case regarding the controversial law saying it was “improvidently granted.”
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